Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Fustat/Duweiqa

I´m temporarily changing the name of this blog to Fustat/Duweiqa as a tribute and a symbolic act of solidarity and respect with the victims, families and the people of Duweiqa and the whole area of Manshiyyet Nasser, when they enter a period of mourning and at the same time have to face a life, so dramatically different from what they had only four short days ago.

These last days, i have felt completely numnb, angry, frustrated , all shades of feelings, but most of all the fact that flashes through my mind constantly, that a life is the cheapest commodity in this country it´s totally without value, and exchangeble. The assembly line in Charlie Chaplin´s 1936 classic, Modern Times has been in my head during the last days, letting people work until they can´t anymore and then just throw them away. In the case of Duweiqa, life is as harsh as it gets, but nobody pays attention, until it´s to late, our Prime Minister seemed to somewhat pride himself and his governments´s achievements last February, when he stated in Parliament:

that the new law regulates slums and said that, while slums all over the world are made of tin shanties, in Egypt they are made of reinforced concrete

The have´s in our country plays Russian roulette with the have not´s every single day, and the only time the life of ordinary, but economically less fortunate Egyptians are valued is if they die in some kind of catasthrope that catches the media eye, if Mufti Ali Gouma deems your death important enough to be a martyr, then your life has a prize tag - (5000 E.P).

On Monday night some people tried to organize a vigil for the victims of Duweiqa at Talat Harb in downtown Cairo, they were not alowed to express the most hounorable , and decent feeling of solidarity, compassion and common sorrow. That incident made me write this. The victims of Duweiqa deserves to be remembered, the survivors and the people deserveres better living conditions, unfortunately after the 40 days mourning period is over, the public eye will move elsewhere and most likely the daily life of those who most need our support and respect, will continue as it did prior to last Saturday until it happens again, the promises given, most likely broken and the lives lost in vain, only left in the loving memories of their families.

Lastly i would like to follow the example of my fellow bloggers Marwa Rahkka and Zeinobia and ask for people to help in whatever way they can, this is through a facebook group created by Zed Magazine, but any way and any help and prayers is more than good enough.